YAKIMA, Wash. – The MSU Billings softball team earned a spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship game with wins over Western Washington and Saint Martin's.
 
MSUB will face Western Washington for the second time in the tournament as the Vikings won games over Western Oregon and Saint Martin's today to also advance to the championship game.
 
On Thursday, the Yellowjackets entered the tournament as the third seed and defeated the No. 2 seed Western Washington 6-1. Earlier today MSUB played the No. 1 seed Saint Martin's and won the game 4-3.
 
If the Yellowjackets lose the game against Western Washington, in the double-elimination tournament, a second game will follow to determine the champion. This is the sixth time the two teams will meet this season. Earlier in the year, MSU Billings and Western Washington split the regular season series 2-2.
 
This is the third annual GNAC softball tournament. MSU Billings won its last conference title in 2012, the year before the conference began holding a postseason tournament. On the line in tomorrow's game is the conference championship, and the GNAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II west region tournament.
 
The west region, consisting of three conferences in the GNAC, PacWest, and California Collegiate Athletic Association, send eight teams to the tournament being held May 7-10. Each of the three conferences sends its conference champion and a NCAA selection committee ranks and determines the remaining five teams. In the latest west region poll, Saint Martin's was ranked No. 6 and Western Washington was No. 10.
 
In most instances, the top-2 ranked teams from the west region will host four teams each with the two winning teams heading to a super regional May 15-16. On Monday May 4, the NCAA will host a selection show at 7 a.m. Pacific Time announcing the eight teams making each regional tournament around the country, and where each host site is.
 
(All Times are in Pacific Time)
 
Saturday, May 2:
Noon - #3 MSU Billings (28-21) vs. #2 Western Washington (30-17), Live Stats
(If necessary a second game will follow at 2:30 p.m.). Live Stats
 
Previous Games
Thursday, Apr. 30:
4:30 p.m. -#3 MSU Billings def. #2 Western Washington 6-1
7:00 p.m. - #1 Saint Martin's def. #4 Western Oregon 8-5
 
Friday, May 1:
2:00 p.m. - #3 MSU Billings def. #1 Saint Martin's 4-3
4:30 p.m. – #2 Western Washington def. #4 Western Oregon 8-3
7:00 p.m. - #2 Western Washington def. #1 Saint Martin's 6-1